Section 238
Original German
238 Zunächst ist die Familie das substantielle Ganze, dem die Vorsorge für diese besondere Seite des Individuums sowohl in Rücksicht der Mittel und Geschicklichkeiten, um aus dem allgemeinen Vermögen sich erwerben zu können, als auch seiner Subsistenz und Versorgung im Falle eintretender Unfähigkeit, angehört. Die bürgerliche Gesellschaft reißt aber das Individuum aus diesem Bande heraus, entfremdet dessen Glieder einander, und anerkennt sie als selbstständige Personen; sie substituirt ferner statt der äußern unorganischen Natur und des väterlichen Bodens, in welchem der Einzelne seine Subsistenz hatte, den ihrigen, und unterwirft das Bestehen der ganzen Familie selbst, der Abhängigkeit von ihr, der Zufälligkeit. So ist das Individuum Sohn der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft geworden, die eben so sehr Ansprüche an ihn, als er Rechte auf sie hat.
Musean translation
Machine-assisted Musean translation made directly from Hegel's German in the Berlin Nicolai first edition, dated 1821. Complete preface, introduction and sections 1–360, including the author's remarks and notes; no later Gans additions.
238 First of all, the family is the substantial whole to which belongs the provision for this particular side of the individual, both with regard to the means and skills for being able to acquire for himself from the universal wealth, and with regard to his subsistence and support in case of incapacity. But civil society tears the individual out of this bond, estranges its members from one another, and recognizes them as self-subsistent persons. It further substitutes its own in place of the external inorganic nature and the paternal soil in which the individual had his subsistence, and subjects the very existence of the whole family to dependence on it, to contingency. Thus the individual has become a son of civil society, which has as many claims upon him as he has rights to it.
Plain English translation
Independent machine-assisted Plain English translation made directly from the German first-edition source, not from the Musean edition or an existing English translation. Complete preface, introduction and sections 1–360 with the author's remarks and notes.
238 First of all, the family is the substantial whole. The care for this particular side of the individual belongs to it. This covers the means and skills for acquiring a share of the general wealth, and also his subsistence and provision in case incapacity sets in. Civil society, however, tears the individual out of this bond. It estranges the family's members from one another and recognizes them as independent persons. It also puts its own in the place of external inorganic nature and of the paternal soil, in which the individual had his subsistence. It makes the existence of the whole family itself dependent on it, and so subject to accident. In this way the individual has become a son of civil society. Civil society has claims on him just as he has rights against it.
About this section
Section 238 is part of Elements of the Philosophy of Right by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. This page sets the German original beside 2 direct-source translations, so any line can be checked against the source. It is section 240 of 362 in the work, which is kept in the European tradition.
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